Vehicle door lock



Patented Oct. 26, 1954 VEHICLE DOOR` LOCK Elijah J. Willis, Morehead City, N. C., assignor of one-half to Daniel G. Bell, Morehead City, N. C.

Application May 20, 1953, Serial No. 356,218

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a door lock, and more particularly to a door lock for a vehicle such as an automobile.

The object of the invention is to provide a door lock which will maintain a door securely fastened so that the door will not accidentally open.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle door lock which is constructed so that accidental opening of the door will be prevented whereby occupants of the vehicle will not accidentally fall out of the vehicle, the door lock of the present invention being readily installed in new or used vehicles.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vehicle door lock which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and in which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure '1 is a side elevational view showing a portion of a vehicle in broken lines, with the door lock of the present invention mounted therein.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view showing the pawls or dogs moved away from the teeth to permit opening of the door.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of the door lock showing the position of the parts when the lock is being used for preventing accidental opening of the door.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral IB designates a portion of the vehicle body or frame, Figure l, while the numeral Il designates a portion of a door which may be the door of an automobile. The door II may be hingedly connected to the frame I by suitable hinges I2.

Positioned within a portion of the frame III is a plate I4, the plate I4 being secured to the frame I0 by suitable securing elements such as screws I5. Mounted within the movable door II is a casing or housing Ie which includes a pair of sections II and I8 that are detachably connected together by means of bolts I9, Figure 4. Slidably mounted in the hollow casing IB is a tongue 20 which is provided with a plurality of teeth 2| on each longitudinal edge thereof. A

plate 9 may be detachably connected to the housing, and this plate can be removed in order to gain access to the interior of the housing.

A pair of pawls or dogs 22 and 24 are mounted for movement into and out of locking engagement with the teeth 2l. The pawl 22 is pivotally mounted in the housing I6 by means of a pin 23, and the other pawl 24 is pivotally mounted in the housing I6 by means of a pin 25. A coil spring 26 interconnects the pair of pawls 22 and 24 together so as to normally urge the iree ends of the pawls into locking engagement with the teeth 2l.

A lever 2'I has one end pivotally connected to the pawl 24 by means of a pin 28, and a link 29 has one end pivotally connected to the other pawl 22 by means of a pin 3D. The link 29 is also pivotally connected to the lever 21 by means of a pin 3|, Figure 5.

The numeral 32 designates a conventional knob or grip which can be manually gripped in order to open or close the door after the lock has been adjusted. A pin 34 pivotally connects an end of an arm 33 to the lever 2I, and a finger 35 is pivotally connected to the other end of the arm 33 by means of a pin 36, there being a handle 3i which is adapted to be moved in a counterclockwise direction, Figure 1, when the door is to Ibe opened. A hinge 38 serves to hingedly connect the tongue 20 to the plate I4.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a lock has been provided which is especially suitable for vehicle doors such as automobile doors. In Figure 5 the parts are shown in locked position so that the free ends of the pawls 22 and 2li engage the teeth 2I to prevent sliding movement of the tongue 2l] in the casing I6 so that opening or swinging movement of the door II is prevented. In order to open the door Il, it is only necessary to lift the handle 31 whereby the arm 33 causes the lever 21 and link '29 to` move the pawls 22 and 24 apart against the tension of the coil spring 25. Thus, the door Il will be free to swing open since the pawls will not engage the teeth 2I. After the door has been closed the spring 2,5 will urge the free ends of the pawls 22 and 2li into engagement with the teeth 2I so that accidental opening of the door is prevented.

I claim:

1, In combination, a door frame, a plate positioned in said door frame and secured thereto, a door hingedly connected to said frame, a hollow housing positioned in said door and includm ing a pair of sections detachably connected together, a tongue slidably mounted in said housing and provided with a plurality of teeth extending along each longitudinal edge, said tongue being hingedly connected to said plate, a pair of pawls pivotally mounted in said housing and mounted for movement into and out of engagement with said teeth, a lever having one end pivotally connected to one of said pawls, a link having,` one end pivotally connected to said lever and its otherl end pivotally connected to the other of said pawls, an arm having one end pivotally connected to said lever, and a door handle connected to said arm.

2. The apparatus as described in claim 1, and further including a coil spring interconnecting References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,965,723 Rupp July 10, 1934 2,032,600 Smith Mar. 3, `1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 384,631 Great Britain Dec. 8, 1932 

